Chapter 86: A Different Look [VIP]
Yang Wenying watched Chen Yao bringing outsiders home, so she put down the embroidery in her hands, stood up, opened the fence door, and welcomed everyone into the yard.
Without Chen Yao introducing herself, Yang Wenying had already bowed to Li Menghong.
I was accepted when I was exiled here with my brother, and I met him once in the refugee camp.
Li Menghong, his servant, and Village Chief Xue all came back to the Shen family for the first time. Although the farmyard was a little run-down, it was very tidy, and people couldn't help but take a closer look.
The first thing that catches your eye is the vegetable patch with lush branches and leaves.
I don't know how the owner takes care of it.
He saw vines hanging from the wooden racks, carobs hanging on them, two rows of fresh green cabbages, a row of leeks that had obviously been cut and regrown, and several other kinds of fruits and vegetables he didn't recognize.
Li Menghong put his hands behind his back and looked like a leader who came to the countryside to inspect work. He asked questions wherever he went, and Chen Yao had to follow him and give him detailed introductions.
First, why are the vegetables growing so well? Second, where did the seeds come from? Third, who is taking care of them?
Chen Yao explained in detail, the kind that required no explanation.
After checking the vegetable garden, Li Menghong went to the chicken coop, which made the big rooster in the chicken coop go into fighting mode. It spread its wings, stretched its neck, and fluttered over the fence to bite people. It had to protect its own territory and the hens and weak chickens that were clucking behind it.
Li Menghong found the fighting cocks quite interesting. He then looked at the shed next to them and asked Chen Yao why they didn't use cows to plow the land since they had cows at home.
Chen Yao replied, "We have a mule at home, but my cousin requisitioned the mule to go to the countryside to collect food. This morning, I invited the students to have breakfast at home, and they were grateful, so they helped me plow the soil."
Li Menghong understood the implicit meaning of Chen Yao's words.
It's just that you think he's eating for free.
"Ayao, you are at home. Are there guests coming to your house?" Several elderly people in the village came in directly after greeting him with baskets on their shoulders.
"Grandma, do you have something to talk to me about?"
Grandma Wang, the leader, waved her hand, her white gums showing as she opened her mouth. "We're not looking for you. We're looking for Wenying. We agreed with her a while ago to catch two chicks to raise."
Upon hearing this, Yang Wenying immediately turned around and went to the kitchen, picked up a basket and waved to the old people, indicating that they should come over and choose.
Chirping sounds were heard in the corridor, and the basket was opened to reveal a pile of furry chicks underneath.
"Grandma, you guys choose one." Yang Wenying proudly pushed the basket forward.
These are the first batch of chicks hatched by the hens she raised herself.
Several old men sat on the porch, looking at this one, touching that one, and finally picked three each. They took out a few copper coins from their arms and handed them over. After putting the chicks into the basket, everyone secretly glanced at Lord Li again.
Village Chief Xue, who was standing by, saw that the Shen family was really making money continuously, and sarcastically accused the Shen family of wasting their time making money in an unscrupulous way.
This made the old people unhappy. As the head of the village, he didn't think about how to help the people, but instead exploited them everywhere. How could they not feel resentment?
These few copper coins are not enough for A Yao's family to buy eggs.
You rotten, useless lackey, you still have the nerve to come to my door.
"Oh, look at me, I'm so old, so blind and deaf that I didn't even notice there was a person standing here. If I hadn't said anything, I would have thought you had a dog at home, Ayao. Who is this person?"
Xue Lichang was so angry after hearing what Grandma Wang said, but she didn't care. After all, she was old and not even afraid of death, so why would she be afraid of offending these people?
Today, several old sisters came here, one to buy chicks, and the other to earn a living for the children at home.
"You, you old woman, who are you calling a dog?" Village Chief Xue pointed at Wang Po's face and scolded.
"Whoever makes a sound will be scolded!" Several elderly people put the baskets in their hands under the corridor, turned around in unison, knelt down, kowtowed and cried to Li Menghong.
"Sir, please do something for the tenant farmers in Xiahe Village. Village Chief Xue has been increasing our rent since he arrived. When has our land ever yielded more than three shi of grain per mu? Isn't this forcing us to die?"
Several elderly people cried at the top of their lungs, with ups and downs in their voices, as if they were crying at a grave.
The old official beside Li Menghong protected his master behind him and went forward to persuade them, but was sprayed in the face by the old people.
Li Menghong was troubled by the crying of the elderly people. "You two should stand up first. I will take care of this matter for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the crying stopped abruptly.
"Oh, that's great. Let's tell everyone the good news right away." Several old people wiped away their tears, patted the dust off their trouser legs, picked up the baskets and walked out of the Shen family's door quickly.
Li Menghong realized that he had been set up by several old men. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and he looked at Chen Yao with gloomy eyes.
"Sir, please sit in the yard with the headman first. The school will be over soon. Wait for Zi'an to come back and let him talk to you." Chen Yao moved two stools to the yard.
No matter what they wanted to say or ask, she just ignored them and went to the kitchen to pick and wash the vegetables.
Village Chief Xue wanted to ask Li Menghong how he was going to make the decision for his fellow villagers, right?
But before he could open his mouth, Li Menghong scolded him to shut up.
Moreover, he was kicked by the old official and fell to the ground.
The old official rolled his eyes at Xue Lichang. "You? How dare you sit down in front of us, my Lord? What's your status?"
In the school.
Yang Jizong told the students that he was alone today.
When the students learned that they were going to meet the prefect, the older ones were a little afraid, but the younger ones like Luo Dunzi, Shitou, Chunya and others were very excited.
They wanted to see if the prefect would really eat people.
When Yang Jizong was leading his students home, he happened to meet the students who had just returned from the fields. They all greeted each other and entered the yard together.
The originally quiet courtyard immediately became lively.
Even Zhou Dashun from the next courtyard hid behind the fence and eavesdropped on how his own son Dalang paid a visit to the prefect.
Li Menghong knew that there were scholars among the poor families under his jurisdiction, but when he really faced these enthusiastic students, his heart, which had been weathered and numb from being immersed in officialdom, seemed to come alive.
He first asked Zhao Xiaofu and other students who they would follow to write articles, and then asked what books these students had read and whether they could write.
Everyone answered one by one, especially the children who looked at him and said that this uncle was not as scary as their parents said.
There was sincerity in the eyes of the kids, not a hint of flattery.
Yang Jizong watched Li Menghong being surrounded by students and chatting, so he went into the kitchen to help Chen Yao and his sister.
The newly ground flour had a wheat aroma. Chen Yao mixed the flour into a paste, made dumpling soup, and steamed a basket of buns stuffed with leeks and eggs.
Yang Wenying put the picked beans and pickled cabbage into a wok and stewed them with pork ribs. The aroma of the food wafted out of the kitchen, making everyone in the yard swallow their saliva.
The students in the village had already left the Shen family with great discretion when they smelled the fragrance of the food. This move made Li Menghong look at these children in a different light.
At noon, the elders were not at home, so Chen Yao and Yang Jizong, brother and sister, were the hosts. The food was served on the table, and Li Menghong asked the old official to take Xue Lichang to the kitchen to eat.
This made Xue Lizhang lose all face in front of everyone: "Sir, I am the head of Xiahe Village."
Li Menghong rolled up his sleeves and didn't even look at him: "You are a slave. How can a slave eat with his master? If you don't want to eat this meal, you can go back."
Captain Xue shifted his gaze to Chen Yao and Yang Jizong, but they naturally would not speak for him.
In order to find out what Li Menghong, Shen Yao and others were plotting, Village Chief Xue had no choice but to swallow his anger and went into the kitchen with the old official to eat.
The dumpling soup is very sour and very appetizing. The buns stuffed with leeks and eggs are bigger than fists. Even Li Menghong, who has poor teeth, can chew the spare ribs in the pot.
Seeing that everyone was enjoying the meal, Chen Yao kicked Yang Jizong's calf under the table.
Yang Jizong immediately raised the tea and signaled the students to toast Lord Li with water instead of wine.
Li Menghong was deceived by everyone's sugar-coated bullets. He had been working in the officialdom for many years, but he had never been loved like this.
"Madam Shen, I will try to promote your farming method. Please don't let me down." Li Menghong took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth that were covered in oil.
Chen Yao stood up in response, then sighed again.
Hu Shijie, who was sitting opposite her, immediately noticed something: "Madam Shen, are you having any difficulties? Our Lord is here, so feel free to tell us what difficulties you have."
This is the step that Chen Yao was waiting for. "To be honest, this school in the village was built by the people together. It's difficult for the children to study."
"Madam Shen, I understand your difficulties." How could Li Menghong not know how much it would cost for a family to support a scholar.
"No, sir, you don't know." Chen Yao grasped Yang Jizong's wrist and showed them his calloused and chilblained hands. "My husband, Jun Zi'an, teaches during the day and copies books for bookshops at night to earn a few copper coins. He can only buy a set of paper, ink, brush, and inkstone, but how can he afford these students?"
Li Menghong kept silent and wanted to refute Chen Yao, saying that these hands might not be entirely caused by copying books. As far as he knew, Yang Jizong had also done hard labor in a quarry and dug canals.
"Sir, you have just talked with these students. If they take the next exam, they may all pass the exam. If you can--"
Before Chen Yao finished speaking, Li Menghong's heart skipped a beat. He said that this meal might not be that simple. It turned out that someone was waiting for him here.
"Madam Shen, you don't need to say anything. Although my monthly salary is not much, I am willing to do my best. How about this, when I return, I will have someone send you some old books."
Chen Yao knew that she couldn't get two taels of silver out of him: "Sir, I accept your kindness on behalf of the students. You might as well listen to what I have to say first."
Chen Yao told Li Menghong that he would ask the gentry in the city to donate money so that poor children could go to school. For every amount of silver donated by these gentry, the name of the investor would be engraved on the monument of merit for the world to praise.
Chen Yao also told Li Menghong that the money from these investors can not only be used to support poor children in their studies, but can also be used by adults to build roads and bridges in the future.
Everyone at the table was shocked when they heard this. This method really kills two birds with one stone!
When Li Menghong and the old official left Shen's house, they felt that the trip was worthwhile. He knew Yang Jizong's abilities, but after seeing Chen Yao today, he was even more determined to fight for his official career.
Isn't it just about sacrificing his face and dealing with those gentry who are full of the smell of money? As a local official, can't he take down these gentry?
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